Oscilloscope and Specialty Films To Produce “Revolution”

Oscilloscope and Specialty Films To Produce "Revolution"

Oscilloscope Laboratories announced today that it will partner with Specialty Films to develop and produce a feature-length documentary based on Entertainment Weekly columnist and film writer Mark Harris’ 2008 New York Times best-seller “Pictures At A Revolution: Five Movies and the Birth of the New Hollywood” and have set award-winning “Roman Polanski: Wanted and Desired” filmmaker Marina Zenovich to direct.

“Pictures” tells the story of the incredibly diverse five Best Picture Oscar nominees for 1967: “Bonnie and Clyde,” “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner,” “In the Heat of the Night,” “The Graduate” and… “Dr. Doolittle.” The book weaves together the stories of how each film was conceived, made and released. The documentary will “create a conversation between all five films to capture the realities of filmmaking at the time and examine the wider story of this crucial period in Hollywood – and America at large,” Oscilloscope and Specialty said in a joint statement.

“I’m looking forward to bringing to life the story of Hollywood’s revolutionary year,” Marina Zenovich said in a statement. “If you want to know when the golden era of ’70’s American cinema really starts, then this is it.”

As Harris writes in the book: “the only event more disruptive to the industry’s ecosystem than an unexpected flop is an unexpected smash, caught off guard by the sudden arrival of more revenue than they thought their movies could ever bring in, the major studios resorted to three old habits: imitation, frenzied speculation, and panic.”

Adam Yauch, head of Oscilloscope said in a statement: “We are really looking forward to working with these guys. Rachael is a longtime friend. She and I have talked about doing something together for decades, and I can’t imagine a better project, or more perfect director to helm it than Marina. I’m a huge fan of the Polanski doc she made. So without further ado, let’s light this candle.”

Horovitz will serve as producer with Zenovich’s collaborator P. G. Morgan. Adam Yauch and David Fenkel of O-scope will serve as executive producers of the documentary. Oscilloscope Laboratories will theatrically release the film in North America and qualify it for the Academy Awards.